Salaried Staff Advisory Council

Minutes: April 11, 2012
The meeting was called to order at 2:30 PM

SSAC members present:

Member	District	Member	District
Margrit Hadden	1	Ladonna Miller	8
Karen Murphy	2	Kimberly Doucette	9
Staci Truitt	3	Cathy Corsi	10
Susan Zarebicki	6	Theresa Henderson	11
Linda Nimtz	7	Carol Brower	12
		Lisa Collins	13

Members excused: Nancy Proctor, Mike DiMauro, Sr.

Others present: Mike Matthews, Lionel Gilibert, Tom LaPenta, Judy Allarey

Meeting called to order by Mr. LaPenta.

Mr. LaPenta introduced Lionel Gilibert and Mike Matthews from the Budget Office, who came to speak to the group about Revenue–Based Budgeting (RBB). According to Mr. Gilibert, RBB is a distribution model to distribute basic budget revenue and basic budget expenses. The idea behind RBB is to incentivize entrepreneurial activities within the colleges to develop new revenue streams. For additional information on the RBB, visit the Budget Office website at: http://www.udel.edu/Budget/RBB_Overview_Presentation_%28Nov11%29.pdf

Minutes
February 15, 2012 minutes were approved as written.

Old Business
Mr. LaPenta discussed the salaried staff recognition award that is being proposed to recognize staff employees who made exemplary contributions to their department and to the university during the past year. Mr. LaPenta had a discussion with the Employee Education and Development group, and they came up with the idea of letting people select from the gifts we already have for the Service Award. Ms. Hadden offered the issue for discussion, noting that the merit award should be unique from the Service Award, which is based on the time an employee has spent working at UD and recognizes someone’s time, not necessarily exemplary service.  SSAC discussed the award, and as a result Tom LaPenta stated he would go back to the Employee Education and Development group and let them know that SSAC felt the award should be unique and separate from the service awards.

Constituent Concerns
A constituent proposed that the University offer an accelerated associate degree for employees who are seeking to advance in positions that require a degree. Mr. LaPenta responded that generally, major research universities do not offer accelerated associate degrees just for employees. Additionally, the UD may be the only university that offers two 100% tuition free for children. He did not see that an accelerated degree option for employees would be available in the foreseeable future.

A constituent noted that perhaps leap day should be added to the annual salary for leap year, so that employees are paid for the day? Is it true that annual salary does not differentiate between 365 days or 366 days per year? Mr. LaPenta said that UD provides employees with at least one week, sometimes seven or eight days of paid holiday during the December holiday break.

The University offers mortgage settlement help of $5000 to faculty and professional staff-- is it possible to transfer some of that money to help pay for hearing aids, which is not covered by insurance? Does the ADA Office have funding or know of a program that may help? Tom Webb, Director, Disability Support Services, said that the DSS office does not have funding for students, faculty or staff when it comes to purchasing hearing aids. The University health insurance typically does not cover them either unless it is for a child.  The way the law views hearing aids is that they are considered a personal service/item.  DSS support students, faculty and staff that have hearing aids by offering them auxiliary aids in the form of FM systems or other assistive technology that connects to their hearing aids so they can hear the speaker (on the phone, in the meeting, etc.) more clearly. Here is a resource that may be helpful:
http://www.hearingloss.org/content/financial-assistance-programs-foundations
Regarding the mortgage assistance, originally it was offered only to faculty because when they are hired, they are almost always coming in from a distance, and that money is specifically for mortgage use.

A constituent asked why salaried staff members need to complete yearly evaluations?  Who reviews these evaluations once they are signed off by your supervisor?  Does anyone review them or are they just filed away? Does poor evaluation affect job security? For faculty, does it affect them if they are trying to obtain tenure?  Mr. LaPenta responded that for all employees, evaluations are seen by their supervisor, and the managers above them in their organization.  As a result merit increases are distributed according to the scores that each employee receives.

The additional central lot parking spaces behind Pearson Hall is always filled with the construction workers from the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Laboratory (ISE Lab) construction site from across the street. According to Transportation and Parking Services, construction workers pay for parking as do all employees who wish to park on campus.

An employee who is visually impaired was crossing the intersection at Wyoming Street and was almost hit by a passing car. Constituent would like to know if it is possible to put a sign so that people may be aware and could take precaution when driving in this area. Public Safety will share this information with City of Newark as this intersection falls under their jurisdiction

Meeting adjourned at 4:45 pm

Respectfully submitted,
Judy Allarey

Reviewed by:
Marge Hadden

................................................................................
SSAC Minutes Index
SSAC Home
PAC-SSAC Home
University of Delaware Home
VP Finance & Administration Home